In town: Newcastle upon Tyne. This is a glorious Grade II-listed building on a pedestrianised city centre street with secure gated parking. For £156,950 you get a relatively compact double bedroom in the basement, a spacious living room, and a bathroom and kitchen.
Sanderson YoungPhotograph: Sanderson Young

In the country: County Durham. The views from this £395,000 three-bedder in Killhope near Bishop Auckland are awesome. Recently renovated from a ruin, it has large, elegantly trimmed rooms and an adjoining two-bed barn conversion. There’s also a wind turbine and diesel generator for its underfloor heating. It’s just a shame it’s remote and exposed.
Smiths Gore

Wreck of the week: South Yorkshire. This three-bed terrace in Broomhall, Sheffield, is partly refurbished – but cheaply so. It needs a new bathroom, some replastering and redecorating and the back garden needs attention. But it’s just a mile from the city centre and has period features and permit parking. Beware, the area is heavily populated with students. Yours for £170,000.
SpencersPhotograph: Spencers

Dream home: Derbyshire. The main three-bed house is slightly dated and most dreamers would have used kinder replacement windows, but the house isn’t the point; nor is the far more handsome self-contained barn conversion with exposed stone walls, vaulted beamed ceilings, a sauna and two bedrooms for house guests or holiday rental. No, the purpose of this £750,000 1.7 acre estate is the location above the Derwent dam and surrounding wilderness of the Peak District national park. So remote is the giant dam, one of three, it was used to test the bouncing bomb during the second world war, yet Sheffield and Manchester are just 15 miles away.
Spencers Estate Agents, 0114 268 3682Photograph: Spencers Estate Agents